Hollywood Writers Call Strike

Setting the stage for the first walkout in nearly 20 years, Hollywood writers voted yesterday to go on strike, reports Associated Press. The union's president announced the decision in a closed-door meeting yesterday, drawing raucous cheers from the assembly. "There was a unified feeling. I don't think anyone wants the strike, but people are behind the negotiation committee," said one writer.

Members will be emailed today telling them when the walkout will begin after the vote is ratified by the board of the 12,000-member union. There's still a chance that a contract, hung up on writers' demands for bigger royalties, could be hammered out over the next few days. One Hollywood insider said the situation "feels like Armegeddon," but an industry representative said production companies "are prepared to close this contract this weekend." (More Writers Guild of America stories.)